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Desktop "disapears"

I almost always simply reformat my pc but decided I had it. I've done that about 2 or 3 times the past 4 years on my current setup but am humbling asking for anyones advice. I used AVG/ Ad Aware/ SpyBot/ McAfee Stinger/ CCleaner and lastly HiJackThis.

My Explorer just cuts out from time to time (Blank Desktop). Cmd.exe popped up though it might be seemingly harmless and Pop Ups come up in a new tabbed window within Firefox sometimes and during application startup.

The explorer.exe has been flickering off more and more while I'm doing graphic work on my computer. I'm on the brink of just simply backing up my files and reformating as it's hindering my work. I forgot to mention my laptop hibernated twice a good week or so ago randomly.

Also I deleted a much needed .dll file thanks to AVG (and my naiveness.) Apparently it's a much needed module for my computer which has me even more inclined to simply reformat. I just stopped some infected process AVG update detected earlier; it found a trojan horse -- after "healing" the trojan my the system needed to reboot and afterwords an explorer icon was found on the desktop as well as outlook express on the start menu. Don't know if this is bad or not just some more info.

I'm thinking of uninstalling AVG. Any advice at this point is welcomed and very much appreciated.

it found a trojan horse -- after "healing" the trojan my the system needed to reboot and afterwords an explorer icon was found on the desktop as well as outlook express on the start menu. Don't know if this is bad or not just some more info.

Don't worry about this, it happens because we have a DLL in the startup, we'll fix it asap.

Another thing that we had to know is ComboFix that placed Internet Explorer icon on desktop and Outlook Express icon in your start menu.One of the things ComboFix does is reset most Internet Explorer settings to default.

I'm thinking of uninstalling AVG.

Wait we finish here, after it you can uninstall AVG and reinstall other antivirus .

1. Close any open browsers.

2. Close/disable all anti virus and anti malware programs so they do not interfere with the running of ComboFix.

3. Open notepad and copy/paste the text in the quotebox below into it:

It is important that you use a software firewall, to prevent unauthorised traffic both out of and into your computer.If you have disabled it, please re-enable it.If you do not have a firewall installed, please download and instal one of these excellent (and free) products:

Zone Alarm (At installing Zonealarm, please uncheck this option "Include a ZoneAlarm Spy Blocker...". The Toolbar is not recommended... You can read more about it here.)

This should open up the temp directory that your machine uses. Please delete all files that are found there. If you get an error when deleting a file, skip that file and delete all the others. If you had trouble deleting a file, reboot into

Safe Mode and follow this step again. You should now be able to delete all the files.

Step 2: Delete Temporary Internet FilesNow I want you to open up Internet Explorer, and click on the Tools menu and then Internet Options. At the General tab, which should be the first tab you are

currently on, click on the Delete Files button and put a checkmark in Delete offline content. Then press the OK button. This may take quite a while, so do not be alarmed with how long it takes. When it is done, your Temporary Internet Files will now be deleted.

Step 3: Use an AntiVirus SoftwareIt is very important that your computer has an anti-virus software running on your machine. This alone can save you a lot of trouble with malware in the future.

See this link for a listing of some online & their stand-alone antivirus programs:

Step 4: Update your AntiVirus SoftwareIt is imperitive that you update your Antivirus software at least once a week (Even more if you wish). If you do not update your antivirus software then it will not be able to catch any of the new variants that may come out.

Step 5: Use a FirewallI can not stress how important it is that you use a Firewall on your computer. Without a firewall your computer is succeptible to being hacked and taken over. Simply using a Firewall in it is default configuration can lower your risk greatly.

For a tutorial on Firewalls and a listing of some available ones see the link below:

Step 6: Visit Microsoft's Windows Update Site FrequentlyIt is important that you visit http://www.windowsupdate.com regularly. This will ensure your computer has always the latest security updates available installed on your computer. If there are new updates to install, install them immediately, reboot your computer, and revisit the site until there are no more critical updates.

Step 7: Install an Anti Spyware softwareIt is very important to be safe. Look this list and choose one to install:

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